tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90539278335845769932018-02-14T17:46:47.408-05:00Alexandria OnlineAlexandria Online: Education, Bandwidth, LearningAlex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-59233300188510729252017-01-10T22:39:00.003-05:002017-01-10T22:39:41.302-05:00Verizon Beyond Verizon
Verizon unplugged me from the internet. I am a paying, Verizon FIOS customer. But they came out and unplugged me from the box on the telephone pole and plugged in some neighbor of mine. When I complained, another technician came out and unplugged my neighbor and plugged me in. And today, yet another technician must have unplugged me again, because I have no FIOS internet connection - again.
Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-73183440209618762132015-02-10T18:14:00.000-05:002015-02-10T18:14:18.933-05:00The Role of Google and Wikipedia in Schools: Search, Find, ValidateOur librarians strictly prohibit the use of Google searches and Wikipedia for research purposes. Our faculty are split, with puritans insisting on authorized sources only and libertines allowing free searches, Wikipedia, whatever in the research process. They all agree that you can't actually cite Wikipedia in your final draft, and that unauthorized sources are, at best, leads to ideas that can Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-53640788620422383442015-01-28T20:45:00.001-05:002015-01-28T20:57:26.828-05:00The Internet: Property of Bell TelephoneAlthough Bell Telephone was broken up over thirty years ago, we cannot escape its legacy. It worked brilliantly for a long time because it was one giant network using all the same technology and design. Here is a relic straight from my own kitchen that still works.
My grandmother's phone.
Yes, you can still dial someone up on that rotary phone. My kids' friends love to. But check out the Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-5716970588090366982014-12-18T10:30:00.001-05:002014-12-18T10:37:33.835-05:00Coding in the Classical Liberal Arts Education
Singular
Plural
1st
amo
amamus
2nd
amas
amatis
3rd
amat
amant
I did it! I conjugated a Latin verb from memory! That's not surprising because I taught Latin for ten years before moving into technology. But I still get a little tingle in my brain when I do it because I am composing it anew.
What was more challenging was makingAlex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-23867067297589288672014-12-07T14:59:00.000-05:002014-12-07T18:15:47.872-05:00Teaching My Mother to Use an iPhoneI'm teaching my 86 year old mom how to use an iPhone for Christmas. It's her present - not the phone, but the "training and on site support" for the phone. After all, I am in that business. In such a situation, it is reasonable to ask the question my mom asks in the video: "how did I get to this place?"
Anyone can hand their mom a phone and wish her well, but it's a little like giving Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-35802401250055817732014-11-26T14:09:00.000-05:002014-11-26T19:54:30.223-05:00Can't be Satisfied: Adding More Bandwidth to a SchoolGetting ready to lay new fiber optic cable is an exciting moment for a director of technology.
We already had a 200 Mbps pipe from our main provider, Chesconet. The fiber runs down from Route 252 several hundred yards, through three separate man holes and into our demarcation closet.
The cable itself belongs to Sunesys, which is a major provider of what is known as "dark" fiber, unassigned at Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-57380862054772214802014-09-21T12:50:00.000-04:002014-09-21T13:08:40.190-04:00The Devil Needs a DatabaseIn this sentence from Annie Proulx's short story, "I've Always Loved This Place," the devil complains because he has no idea whether the famous painter Signorelli, who did such a lovely job painting The Last Judgment, resides in Hell or not:
"They had to start compiling a database of the damned and their particular niches; it was impossible to find anyone in Hell."
Even the devil, whose Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-11225885360435788132014-09-20T13:40:00.002-04:002014-09-21T13:14:19.092-04:00What Happens When the Network Goes Down?Short answer: no internet, no email, no phones, no printing, no clocks, no bells, no public announcement system at pickup time, can't adjust the heating/cooling system, can't change the door lock schedule, can't operate the outdoor sprinkler system on the fields. The water still runs and the lights stay on, but everything else is a yard sale.
We learned a bit later that one of our two, core Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-64431770188076734132014-06-04T11:39:00.003-04:002014-06-04T11:39:49.406-04:00The Network of Networks
"The Fundamental challenge these network pioneers faced— and the one that remains at the heart of the Internet’s DNA— was designing not just a network but a network of networks."
Blum, Andrew (2012-05-29). Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet (p. 42). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
The network of networks that Blum is describing in this excerpt is the fiber infrastructure, switches,Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-61221161676177850552014-04-26T12:04:00.001-04:002014-04-26T12:04:20.505-04:00I can hear you learningMy 14 year old son is learning a Beethoven piece that is actually too difficult for him right now: sonata 8, Pathetique. He misses notes and feels his way back to the right key. He plays too fast and goes off the rails, then he goes back and traces his steps one chord at a time. He plays and he listens, plays and listens, plays and listens, trying for different tones and dynamics. When he's readyAlex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-60222182321880398352014-04-14T17:19:00.001-04:002014-04-14T17:21:43.076-04:00Bandwidth's Best Friend: Electricity
The guy on the right is me standing next to my best friend, a big Detroit Diesel emergency generator. Today we had serious electrical problems on campus, but our data and voice network never went down. All of our teledata equipment is plugged into emergency circuits that are fed by our on campus generators.
All day the generators have been roaring away, as demonstrated by the open flap on topAlex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-24415317025295780682014-04-09T10:50:00.000-04:002014-04-09T10:50:37.469-04:00Check Signal StrengthMy son is spending his junior semester abroad in Khatmandu, Nepal, studying the economics of developing countries. He is just beginning an independent project to study the hidden economy of the city, where few pay taxes and everyone dickers for everything. It is estimated that the hidden economy of Nepal may account for 30% of gross domestic product. When I was in college, this is not what peopleAlex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-66596868937461713622014-03-22T10:34:00.001-04:002014-03-22T10:44:20.366-04:00In the Beginning, there was a Signal
ἐν τῇ ἄρχῃ ἦν ὁ λόγος -- John 1.1
This well known piece of scripture is commonly translated, "in the beginning, there was the word." However, it's easy to play fast and loose with one of our favorite Greek words, λόγος: word, argument, reasoning, or thought. So I'll go a step further and translate it as "signal." In the beginning, there was the signal.
This week, we seem to have received Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-53420899869657072662014-03-06T12:20:00.000-05:002014-03-06T17:01:12.725-05:00Innovation and RenaissanceThe idea of a universe made of atoms governed by the laws of physics is as old as writing; however, at least in the Western tradition, it took a little detour during the dark ages. Interest declined, books disappeared or were destroyed, people forgot.
A few manuscripts of Lucretius' Dē Rērum Naturā were found, studied and copied and the Renaissance began, according to Stephen Greenblatt in his Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-89086389704829780792014-02-22T11:42:00.002-05:002014-02-22T11:42:23.410-05:00Innovation and TraditionIn a school like The Episcopal Academy, we must maintain a careful balance between innovation and tradition. We are handing down an old and sacred cultural heritage, whether we teach the tradition of story time with kindergartners or the method of solving integrals.
"Innovation is flexibility" said David Sigel, a colleague who teaches visual art. I put down the grapefruit I was carrying on his Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-28483409926079957372013-12-22T15:19:00.000-05:002013-12-22T15:19:15.287-05:00Where is the Front of the Class?Blackboards, whiteboards, SMARTboards, projectors: they are all at the front of the classroom. "Eyes up here!" or "eyes on the board please!" have been cried out by teachers through the ages. The classic schoolroom has always been oriented toward the front, where the teacher stands or sits.
When every student has a laptop, the old schoolroom gets an abrupt reorientation. The work is right beforeAlex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-83475462160497283002013-04-01T14:56:00.000-04:002013-04-01T14:56:00.872-04:00Collect, Classify, Listen, Copy: Unplugged LearningIn 1972, my Sixth Grade teacher had us create our own leaf collection. Mr. Walker, an avid botanist and environmentalist, had done this for many generations of students, who had grown up, graduated, and come back to visit him and tell him, "I still have that leaf collection we made in Sixth Grade."
Many of the elements of what is known as "21st Century Learning" were completely absent. We Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-70311128133314980422013-03-07T22:02:00.001-05:002013-03-07T22:02:55.150-05:00Save Your School: Maintain Maximum Signal StrengthIf you want to keep your school growing and thriving, turn up the signal. Yes, you need high bandwidth, but take that as a metaphor for learning and teaching.
Schools have to let in as much new content as they can bear. The quality of online content is soaring. At first the promise of the internet was over-hyped: the complete universe of written matter was available, but who wanted to read Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-90513489075086378002013-03-04T12:49:00.000-05:002013-03-04T12:49:42.594-05:00The Online CredentialWhen I first saw the World Wide Web using my Netscape browser, I was skeptical of its commercial potential. Would people really type in their credit card numbers and expect goods and services in return? Just like the early days of credit cards, however, there was just too much money to be made for such a revolutionary idea to fail. And so internet engineers developed systems that inspired Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-77413899609644846342011-10-23T10:06:00.000-04:002011-10-23T10:06:18.973-04:00Define "Technology" at the Waldorf School in Silicon ValleyIn the Sunday NYTimes today there is an article about a Waldorf School in Silicon Valley that has no computers in the lower grades.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
The cover picture -- front page of the times and pretty big too -- is of a school girl lying on her back, legs dangling over the table, Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-51942420439331464142011-10-19T20:11:00.000-04:002011-10-19T20:11:02.363-04:00E-Textbooks: "They Always Take Longer Than You Think" -- PoohThat's a quote from Winnie the Pooh as he plays "pooh sticks" with his friends, a game in which you throw sticks off a bridge into a stream on one side and run to the other side to watch them come out.
Today, in the New York Times, I read about a school district that uses digital resources to the exclusion of paper ones:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/education/19textbooks.html
If you look Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-34554352664302163072011-10-15T22:17:00.000-04:002011-10-15T22:17:41.133-04:00Halfway to E-booksMany classes at Episcopal use E-books. Sometimes. Everybody gets a bound paper book, but they also get access to the online version with supplementary materials. So lots of kids just leave their paper books home and access the online version when they need to at school.
We have a committee to study implementing a one-to-one laptop program at Episcopal right now. One of the things we are Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-35061003469857097032011-09-11T17:39:00.000-04:002011-09-11T17:39:59.879-04:00Personal Versus Corporate TechnologyWe distribute iPhones, iPads or laptops to various employees at Episcopal and now we are considering giving laptops to students as well and asking them to use them in class. All of these technologies have an oddly personal touch to them. And the smaller they are, the more personal, culminating in the iPhones that ride around in pockets and contain family pictures and personal contact information Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-48115187654853678642011-06-28T20:41:00.000-04:002011-06-28T20:41:45.043-04:00Serious Fun: 5th Grader Teaches the TeachersWhen I signed up myself and my son to present a session at the 2011 conference of the International Society for Technology in Education in Philadelphia this June, I had no idea that 105 people would sign up to listen to a 5th grader teach them how to write a computer program. (Click here for a webcast.)
Needless to say, neither one of us slept much the night before. But we were immaculately Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9053927833584576993.post-9227527138827403752011-04-10T17:05:00.000-04:002011-04-10T17:05:35.181-04:00Why Do We Listen to Lectures? Authors and the Web of AuthorityThe Shipley School, Penn Charter and The Episcopal Academy, three k-12 co-ed independent schools in the Philadelphia suburbs, held a joint professional day last week. By pooling our funds, we were able to hire an eminent and expensive scholar in the field of educational innovation and reform, Tony Wagner, author of The Global Achievement Gap.
Tony have a well-polished presentation to about 400 Alex Pearsonhttps://plus.google.com/100186938977148435957noreply@blogger.com0